A Kind of Loving (film)
Encyclopedia
A Kind of Loving is a 1962 British
drama film
directed by John Schlesinger
, based on the 1960 novel of the same name
by Stan Barstow
. It stars Alan Bates
and June Ritchie
as two lovers in 1960s West Yorkshire
. The photography was by Denys Coop
, and the music by Ron Grainer
. Filming locations included the towns of Preston, Blackburn, Bolton
, Salford, Manchester
, Radcliffe
and St Anne's-on-sea in the north-west of England
.
The film belongs to the British New Wave
movement in film, and the related genre commonly known as "kitchen sink drama".
in a Manchester factory who sleeps with a typist called Ingrid Rothwell (Ritchie) who also works there. She falls for him but he is less enamoured of her. He then learns she is pregnant so he proposes marriage and the couple move in with her domineering mother Mrs Rothwell (Thora Hird
), who looks down on Vic. Ingrid has a miscarriage, Vic has regrets and comes home drunk. The couple then consider the possibility of making do with a 'kind of loving'.
award at the 12th Berlin International Film Festival
in 1962.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by John Schlesinger
John Schlesinger
John Richard Schlesinger, CBE was an English film and stage director and actor.-Early life:Schlesinger was born in London into a middle-class Jewish family, the son of Winifred Henrietta and Bernard Edward Schlesinger, a physician...
, based on the 1960 novel of the same name
A Kind of Loving
A Kind of Loving is a novel by the English novelist Stan Barstow. First published in 1960, it has long been used as a set text in British schools...
by Stan Barstow
Stan Barstow
Stanley "Stan" Barstow FRSL was an English novelist.-Biography:Barstow was born in Horbury, near Wakefield, Yorkshire. His father was a coal miner and he attended Ossett Grammar School, he then worked as a draftsman and salesman for an engineering firm...
. It stars Alan Bates
Alan Bates
Sir Alan Arthur Bates CBE was an English actor, who came to prominence in the 1960s, a time of high creativity in British cinema, when he demonstrated his versatility in films ranging from the popular children’s story Whistle Down the Wind to the "kitchen sink" drama A Kind of Loving...
and June Ritchie
June Ritchie
June Ritchie is a British actress. She is perhaps best known for starring in the role of Ingrid Rothwell opposite Alan Bates in the 1962 film adaptation of A Kind of Loving...
as two lovers in 1960s West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
. The photography was by Denys Coop
Denys Coop
Denys Coop BSC was a British cinematographer. He is sometimes credited as Denys N. Coop.As Camera Operator on The Third Man, he was responsible for many of the now iconic 'Dutch' angles and striking compositions, which had previously not been seen in cinema, but now form an everyday part of film...
, and the music by Ron Grainer
Ron Grainer
Ronald Erle “Ron” Grainer was an Australian-born composer who worked for most of his professional career in the United Kingdom. He is mostly remembered for his film and television music.- Biography :...
. Filming locations included the towns of Preston, Blackburn, Bolton
Bolton
Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...
, Salford, Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, Radcliffe
Radcliffe, Greater Manchester
Radcliffe is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on undulating ground in the Irwell Valley, along the course of the River Irwell, south-west of Bury and north-northwest of Manchester. Radcliffe is contiguous with the town of Whitefield to the...
and St Anne's-on-sea in the north-west of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
The film belongs to the British New Wave
British New Wave
The British New Wave is the name given to a trend in filmmaking among directors in Britain in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The label is a translation of Nouvelle Vague, the French term first applied to the films of François Truffaut, and Jean-Luc Godard among others.There is considerable overlap...
movement in film, and the related genre commonly known as "kitchen sink drama".
Plot summary
Victor 'Vic' Brown (Bates) is a draftsmanTechnical drawing
Technical drawing, also known as drafting or draughting, is the act and discipline of composing plans that visually communicate how something functions or has to be constructed.Drafting is the language of industry....
in a Manchester factory who sleeps with a typist called Ingrid Rothwell (Ritchie) who also works there. She falls for him but he is less enamoured of her. He then learns she is pregnant so he proposes marriage and the couple move in with her domineering mother Mrs Rothwell (Thora Hird
Thora Hird
Dame Thora Hird DBE was an English actress.-Early life and career:Hird was born in the Lancashire seaside town of Morecambe. She first appeared on stage at the age of two months in a play her father was managing...
), who looks down on Vic. Ingrid has a miscarriage, Vic has regrets and comes home drunk. The couple then consider the possibility of making do with a 'kind of loving'.
Cast
- Alan BatesAlan BatesSir Alan Arthur Bates CBE was an English actor, who came to prominence in the 1960s, a time of high creativity in British cinema, when he demonstrated his versatility in films ranging from the popular children’s story Whistle Down the Wind to the "kitchen sink" drama A Kind of Loving...
as Victor Arthur 'Vic' Brown - Thora HirdThora HirdDame Thora Hird DBE was an English actress.-Early life and career:Hird was born in the Lancashire seaside town of Morecambe. She first appeared on stage at the age of two months in a play her father was managing...
as Mrs. Rothwell - June RitchieJune RitchieJune Ritchie is a British actress. She is perhaps best known for starring in the role of Ingrid Rothwell opposite Alan Bates in the 1962 film adaptation of A Kind of Loving...
as Ingrid Rothwell - Bert Palmer as Mr. Geoffrey Brown
- Pat KeenPat KeenPat Keen is a retired British actress whose career on stage, television and film ran from the 1950s to the 2000s.She is best known for playing strident, bossy middle-aged women in British comedy throughout the 1970s and 1980s, such as the character 'Virginia' in the Fawlty Towers episode "The...
as Christine Harris - James BolamJames BolamJames Christopher Bolam, MBE is a British actor, best known for his roles as Jack Ford in When the Boat Comes In, Trevor Chaplin in The Beiderbecke Trilogy, Terry Collier in The Likely Lads and its sequel Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?, Roy Figgis in Only When I Laugh, Dr Arthur Gilder in...
as Jeff - Jack SmethurstJack SmethurstJack Smethurst is an English TV and film comic actor whose career dates back to the 1950s.-Career:Smethurst made his film debut in 1958's Carry On Sergeant...
as Conroy - Gwen Nelson as Mrs. Brown
- John RonaneJohn RonaneJohn Ronane is a British actor.An Emmy nominee for his role in "War of Children" for CBS, he lost to Lord Olivier that year....
as Draughtsman - David Mahlowe as David Harris
- Patsy RowlandsPatsy RowlandsPatsy Rowlands was an English actress who is best remembered for her roles in the Carry On films, as Betty in the popular ITV Thames sitcom Bless This House, and as Alice Meredith in the Yorkshire Television sitcom Hallelujah!.-Early years:She was born in Palmers Green, London and attended a...
as Dorothy - Michael DeaconMichael DeaconMichael Deacon was a Scottish actor.His many stage appearances included roles for venues such as the Hampstead Theatre, The Mercury Theatre, Colchester, Pentameters Theatre and the Finborough Theatre....
as Les - Annette Robertson as Phoebe
- Fred Ferris as Althorpe
- Leonard RossiterLeonard RossiterLeonard Rossiter was an English actor known for his roles as Rupert Rigsby, in the British comedy television series Rising Damp , and Reginald Iolanthe Perrin, in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin...
as Whymper - Malcolm Patton as Jim Brown
- Harry Markham as Railwayman
- Peter MaddenPeter Madden (actor)Peter Madden was a British actor who was born in Kuala Lumpur in Malaya.Madden was a character actor who made several notable appearances in Hammer films...
as Registrar - David Cook as Draughtsman (uncredited)
- Joe GladwinJoe GladwinJoe Gladwin was a British actor born in the Ordsall district of Salford, Lancashire. He was baptised at Mount Carmel RC Church, Ordsall and educated at the parish school...
as Bus Driver (uncredited) - Norman Heyes as Laisterdyke (uncredited)
- Bryan MosleyBryan MosleyBryan Mosley OBE was a British actor, known best as grocer Alf Roberts in the long-running ITV soap opera Coronation Street.- Early life :...
as Bus conductor (uncredited) - Kathy StaffKathy StaffKathy Staff was an English actress, well known for her work on British television...
as Next door neighbour (uncredited)
Awards
The film won the Golden BearGolden Bear
According to legend, the Golden Bear was a large golden Ursus arctos. Members of the Ursus arctos species can reach masses of . The Grizzly Bear and the Kodiak Bear are North American subspecies of the Brown Bear....
award at the 12th Berlin International Film Festival
12th Berlin International Film Festival
The 12th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from June 22 to July 3, 1962.-Jury:* King Vidor * André Michel* Emeric Pressburger* Hideo Kikumori* Dolores del Río* Jurgen Schildt* Max Gammeter* Günther Stapenhorst* Bruno E...
in 1962.